Valve for water systems of railway cars



Nov. .28, 1939. c. A. CAMPBELL ET A1. 2,181,224

I .VALVE FOR WATER SYSTEMS 0F RAILWAY CARS Filed sept. 12, 1958 y EM ` :inventor PatentedNov. 2s, 1939 2,181,224 vALvEjFoR rWArrnncfri1M,s oF RAILWAY charles A. campbell landr VWayne A. Baldwin, Watertown, N. Y., assignors to The New York t Air Brake Compa Sey .7;

, aI corporation of kNew Jer a Application September 12, 1938, Serial No. 229,614`

.s'claimsU (01221-74) i; Y .p

' This invention relates to thevwater raisingsystems commonlyused on railway cars. The water `tanks are usualy suspended'beneath `the car and 'the lpressure necessary to lift the water through 5 the service pipes in the car is derived from the air brake system. The airis taken from the-supply reservoir in the case lofv cars equipped with D-22 control valves,iwhile onjcars equipped'with'U-eC Valves the supply is takenI from the emergency reservoir. The usual practice is to take the airthrough a pressure responsive valve which opens only-when the reservoir isv substantially charged. The air so derived is passed through" apressure reducing 5 valve which delivers air` under' reduced pressure to the space above vthe water in the tanks. kIn this waythe water in theI tanks is keptunder `a suitable pressure head. oll the tank, the op'- eration is, rst, to cut ol the supply of air to the tank, then vent the tank, and finally, open the filling cap and fdl Lthe vtank with water, after which a reverse sequence of yoperations must take place to seal'y the tank and subject it once more to air pressure.

,l The object of the pres'entinventionv is to provide a simple and sanitary water lling connection for suchtanks. Generally stated, the air-supply to the tank ishcontrolled bya two positionl valve. In the normal'or operative'position, this valve closes the vent and admits Iair pressure to thev top of thetank. In the lling position, the same valve cuts oif the air supply and vents the tank. 'A

The 'handle of the valve controls the move-l ;5 ments of 5 the dust cover,which'does not seal the water filling Aopening tightly against air pressure,

but which does-closev it tightly'enough toA exclude dirt and dust. This vcover is so related to the handle of the air valve .that it maybe openedV ,.0 when the air valve is in venting position, and willbe closed and sealed as an incident to return of the valve to charging position.' A g t The function'of retaining the air pressure in the tank under normal or runningv conditions is 5 performed by acheck valve of lspecial form. This valve is mounted for limited universal movement on a hingedarm, the arm ,heilig spring pressed to carry the valvewagainst ritsgjseat. After the air valve has been moved'to venting position and the dust cover has been swung out of the way, the operator inserts the nozzle of the lling hose and this nozzle strikes the check valve from its seat and swings it back into Aa recess, permitting the nozzle to pass the valve and enter the filling opening at the top of the tank. The check valve has a rubber seating gasketwhich is retained by a combined gasket clamp andstrikeplate, so designedV that thel nozzle of the filling hose can never jstrike the'gasket but will engage lthe strike plate andforce: the-'valve'baclg without injury '5 to the gasket.

Thepreferred embodiment of the invention will now be-described'with reference tothe accompanying drawing, Vin which:

Figure 1 is'a face view of the filling valve with 10 the dust cap lclosedand sealed, andthe air valve inl normal orvrunning position, in which it admits air'pressure to the Vtank and closes the vent; Fig.V 2 isa section on the-line 2-2 of Fig. 3. It shows the porting of the air valve and the con- 15 struction ofthe guiding arm for 'the check valve;

Fig. 3 is a View showl g the mechanism in vertical axial section on-'the line 343 of Fig. 1. In

this View, the tank andthe connections between l the tank and the valve mechanism areshown; 20

and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view showing how the dust cap is hinged to the cover ring.

, The upper-outer corner of the water tank is indicated aty 6.: 'I-is awater lling elbow connec- 25 tion leading through the top of the tank, and V8 is a connection through whichair under pressure isadmittedgtoithe top of the tank and Vented therefrom. `9` is the hollow body ofthe water filling tting.' anditl carries beneath itthe body I I of the air valve. The two are separately constructed and connected by bolts I2, "but this separate construction is simply a matter'of kconvenience in manufacture, f On the upper face of the body 9 35 is a pad I3' with flanges and bolt holes by Vmeans of whichthe body 9 may be yfastened to any suitable support carried bythe car.r

" lv The -bodyv II ofthe-air valve has an air. supply connection IIIv opposite the connection 8 and an 40' exhaust or vent connection I5 at 90 thereto. The `body has a' taper bore for the tapered cock plug I6 which has three through ports I1 which,

in normal position, connect supplyconnection I4 withtheconnection 8 to the water tank. vThere 45` y are also lateral ports I8` leading jfrom ports I1 'so that when the plug I6- is turned 90 clockwise from the 'position shown' in Fig. 2,v supply 'con' Itis connected with the elbow I'I 30 2 the end of body Il. The key and plug are connected by an Oldham coupling comprising the disc 2U with cross slots on its opposite face and at to eachother. A handle 2li is fixed on key 22. Since disc 2 seats on a shoulder 25 and sustains the key, this arrangement permits the valve to seat without entailing axial motion of the key. Hence, the path of the handlel 24 is denite and independent of lwearing-in of the plug.

the rearby seat rib 2l for the check valve. It is sealed to the body by machine screws 29 as shown.; l 4

The check valve comprises -adisc 3l with gas'- ket 32 and combined strike plate and gasket retainer 33 threaded into dishSi.

disc 3l is a spherical boss 34 passing through a Ahole in the end of swinging arm 36'. A coil compression spring 3l surrounding the stemlwith suitable `washers and cotter pin, draws the boss against the seat in the arm, so that the valve has limited universal tilting motion relatively to the arm. y l

The arm 36 lis mounted on shaft 38 journaled at one end in bushing 39 and at the other end in cap fil. A torsion spring i2 encircles shaft 38, one end engaging a hole in arm 3G and the other a hole in cap il.` The spring is stressed byy turning the cap and then` fastening the cap by the machine screws 43. Thus,Y the stress of the spring may be adjusted by increments of onehalf turn. The stress need be only suiicient to ensure an initial seal as the air pressure in the system acts to seat the valve. The cap il is sealed by a gasket, as shown.

The cover ring 26 carries a lug 44 which coacts with lugs l5 and 45 on yhandle 24 to limit the throw of handle to 90 and also limits the closing movement of the dust cap hereinafter described. It also carries a lug 4l towhichythe dust cap 4B is hinged as shown in Fig. 4. The hinge pin 49 is retained by spring 5i acting against the spring seat 52. Thus, the pin 49 may move outward in the direction of its axis to permit cap 48 to ride up the inclined lug 53, as it closes. The dust cap` must close before handle 24 can be swung to the position of` Fig. 1. As the handle is swung to this position it engages the inclined lug 54 and cams the dust` cap-to its seat.

Assuming the parts to'be in running position as shown, the tank may be lled with Water as follows. Handle 24 is swung clockwise 90". l This cuts off the air supply and then vents tank 6, relieving pressure on the check valve. The operator then grasps iinger lug 55 and swings'cap i8 clockwise. I-Iev then inserts the nozzle, striking back the check valve.` The inserted position of the nozzle is indicated at 5B in dotted lines. When the tank has been filled, he withdraws the nozzle, whereupon the check valve swings to its seat. Before he can swing valve handle 2li reversely, the operator must swing dust cap closed. When he has done so, he can swing handle 2li counter-clockwise 90, closing the vent, opening the air pressure supply to tank 6 and camming the dust cap closely to its seat.

. rsupply means and a The open -front of body 9 receives the cover ring 2t having a filling opening"surroundedA at gasket 23 andis held by the insertion of-ia filling nozzle;

On the rear oi p With stem 35, the` boss engaging a conforming seat in andthe-stem` While one embodiment 'has been described in considerable detail, this description is intended to be illustrative and not limiting.

What is claimed is:

l. A filling mechanism for tanks operated under pneumatic pressure,comprising in combination with the tank and means for supplying air under pressure; an air valve having a normal position in which it connects the tank and air filling position in which it disconnects them and vents the tank; a filling housing vcommunicating with the tank and having a filling opening adapted to receive a illing nozzle;..an inward-opening check valve for sealingfsad openingand arranged to be opened by av dust cap for closing said filling opening; and means operable byrnotion oi' the air valve from illing to normal positionto seat said dust cap tightly.

`2. The combination dened in claim 1, in which the air valve has a swinging handle and the dust cap is hinged to swing on an axis parallel with the axisl on which said handle swings and obstructs motion of said handle when the dust cap is open.

3. The'c'ombination deiined in claim l in which the inward opening check valve is mounted for limited universal rocking motion on a swinging arm adapted to carry the valve out of the path of the inserted nozzle; and yielding means provided to urge the'arm and the valve lto closed position.

4. A filling mechanism for tanks operated under pneumatic pressure, comprising in combination with the tank and means for supplying air under pressure; an air valve having a normal position in which it connectsthe tank and air supplying means and a filling position in which it disconnects them and vents the tank; a filling housing communicating with the tank and having a filling opening adapted to receive a filling a nozzle;'an inward-opening check valve controlling saidY opening and comprising a swinging arm, a valve mounted for at least limited universal tilting motion on said arm and means yieldingly urging the arm in a valve. closing direction; a dust cap hinged to swing over said opening to protect the same; and cam means `reacting between a component of the air valve and the dust cap and serving to force the cap closed as vthe valve is shifted from filling to normal position. 5. A lling mechanism for tanks operated under pneumatic pressure, comprising in combination with the tank and means for supplying airA under pressure; an air valve having a normal position in which supplying means and a filling position which CHARLES A. CAMPBELL. WAYNE-A. BALDWIN.

it connects the tank and air Gil 

